UNITED STATES—Most of us lost an hour of sleep over the weekend, and while you might not think it has a big impact on your life think again. There have been arguments for years about the purpose of Daylight Saving Time. Particularly, how it impacts the lives of most Americans who find themselves thrown off by the hour they gain or the hour they lose. What I do know is that the daylight decreases during winter, while the sunlight element increases as spring approaches.

Living in the Midwest, the argument can also be made that it allows brighter skies for kids who might be walking to school in the morning. However, new studies have arisen reporting that this time adjustment to our lives is more impactful than we think.

There has been talk of a spike in car crashes because of the hour of sleep that we lose, people taking over 7 days to report back to normalcy and in most cases Americans fall into a pit of laziness on the day that we lose or gain that 1 hour.

For those of us who work, it can be even more nerve-wrecking. For many people there is that fear of over-sleeping. I know this feeling all too well. I was in a tailspin because I wasn’t sure if my cell phone would automatically adjust its time without me having to make the adjustment. So the entire night I tossed and turned worried about oversleeping.

So I went to work slightly groggy, not as energized as I had hoped. The work week has kicked off and I’m still adjusting to not only the extra hour of sunlight that is prevalent, but the fact that I lost sleep and I feel desperate to try to make up for the sleep that I lost. I’ve come to realize over the years, when you LOSE sleep you can never really gain it back; it’s lost, you just have to move on and improve your sleep patterns.

I feel sorry for those who actually have to work the midnight shift (I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE), because it really throws you off. Rather its losing an hour of sleep (slightly a good thing, because you get to leave work early), but it sucks when you set your clock back (cause you have to work an additional hour). The impact is not as bad on kids because most get 8-10 hours of sleep a night anyway. I mean do you know many kids who don’t garner that many hours of sleep? For teens it becomes a bit of a difficulty; I mean so many teens sleep half the day away anyway, so imagine if they have to give up an hour that makes them even more moody than what they already are.

For adults, we rarely sleep as it is, I’m lucky if I can get 6 QUALITY hours of sleep in a given night. So imagine having to sacrifice an hour of sleep that your body desperately needs to stay operating at its fullest capacity. I mean we’re constantly told you need 7-8 hours of sleep per night, but what adult actually obtains that. I can’t even make that happen on the 1 day of the week that I actually don’t work, and I’m juggling multiple jobs. Rather you’re a fan of Daylight Saving Time or not, it is apparent it does impact our lives more than we suspect.